#Fate

by Cambria Hebert

  “My family bonds are just fine,” I quipped. “But you and Mom… I’d say your family is a lot smaller than it used to be.”

  “Andrew.” Mom came forward.

  My hand tightened on Trent, making him stiffen as if he were prepared to protect me.

  “I won’t ever forget what you’ve done. What you tried to rob from me. I might have been able to forgive you for the pain you caused me, but what you did to Trent? To the man I love? I’ll never forgive you. I’ll never forget.”

  Gently, I pulled out of his arms. “Can I have a pen?” I asked the room.

  Gamble pulled one out of his suit jacket and handed it over.

  “I need your back,” I told T.

  His eyes held mine for long moments, silently telling me I didn’t have to do this.

  “I know I don’t,” I whispered. “This is my choice.”

  Nodding, he turned, offering his back. I flipped to the appropriate pages and scrawled my name in every place required.

  When I was done, I regarded my parents. “I’m a full-grown man. I didn’t think it needed saying, but here I am, saying it anyway. You have no control over my life. My future. Who I love.”

  I found a loose piece of paper that came after all the other documents and held it up. “In addition to all the other legal shit I just signed, I asked my lawyer to draw this up as well.” I glanced at Romeo’s dad. “It’s a document that states you, Burke and Adrienne Forrester, have no rights to me. You have no claim on anything having to do with me. It also states that if I ever fall into a coma or any incapacitated state ever again, you are not allowed to see me.”

  My mother started crying, and my father actually rocked back on his feet.

  Pointing to the signature line, I showed where I’d signed. “I don’t ever want to see you again. I’ve come to realize that your ‘disowning’ of me was halfhearted. A vile attempt at controlling me. I’ve had enough. I’m disowning you. Don’t call. Don’t write. Don’t show up in front of me or Trent ever again. If you come to the compound, we will not open the gate.”

  “Andrew, no!” my mother wailed, coming forward.

  I stepped back. “Stay back, Adrienne.”

  My use of her first name shocked her silent.

  Ivy cleared her throat and silently came to my side. “Can I see that paper?”

  I handed it to her.

  “The pen?”

  Puzzled, I handed that over too.

  “Braeden,” she beckoned.

  B appeared, offering his back without pause. I watched my sister scrawl her name beneath mine.

  “I feel the same as Drew,” she announced, handing the paper and pen to Anthony.

  Camden cleared his throat. “I’ll sign it too.”

  “You don’t have to,” I told him and my sister. “I wouldn’t ask you to do that. I would never ask you to choose.”

  “Yeah?” Cam scoffed. “Well, he asked me to.” He pointed to our father. “Sorry, Dad, but I can’t be on your side.”

  Mom nearly passed out. The only one who moved to catch her was my father.

  “Get out,” I said, suddenly exhausted.

  “I’m sorry,” Adrienne said.

  “If apologies worked, we wouldn’t need the police,” Braeden intoned.

  Romeo snickered.

  “Trent.” My father stepped forward.

  I snapped upright and lunged forward. “Don’t even say his name.” I snarled.

  The world tipped out from under me, and I swayed on my feet. A few muffled curses and hustling feet closed around me. I didn’t fall, though. Trent was there scooping me up in his arms.

  “You shouldn’t be doing this,” he scolded. “You just got out of a coma, for fuck’s sake.”

  “I’m done now,” I said, letting my head drop to his shoulder.

  My parents called out to me again, but I ignored them. Braeden and Romeo acted like bouncers and bounced them right out into the hall where actual security escorted them away.

  I lay back in bed while Trent pulled the French fry blanket over me. “I miss the dog,” I whined.

  Trent half smiled. “You can FaceTime him later.” Then he paused. “Well, when I get us new phones.”

  “French Fry is fine.” Rimmel informed him, pulling out her phone and finding a few photos. “He’s with my dogs and having fun.”

  Turning the screen around, she showed Drew multiple pictures of all the mutts running around our compound.

  “Here.” Trent held a cup of water under my lips. Dutifully, I swallowed, wondering when my raw throat would feel better.

  “Coffee,” I croaked.

  The coffee he’d gotten me appeared, and I took it with a sigh.

  “If it’s not hot anymore, I’ll get you a new one.”

  When I lifted it to my lips, the cup visibly shook with the effort.

  Without a word, Trent withdrew it gently, sat on the edge of the bed, and held it to my lips for me to take a sip. As I drank, I stared at him.

  Pulling the cup back, I felt a bead of liquid on my lip. Trent swiped it away with the pad of his thumb, then stuck it into his mouth to suck it clean.

  “Drew?” Ivy’s quiet voice captured my attention.

  The second I looked into her shimmering blue eyes, I sighed. “Ives.” My chest tightened. Lifting an arm, I invited her close.

  She climbed onto the bed, fitting herself against me. Trent tensed, no doubt worrying about my side, but I shook my head and he backed off.

  Closing my arm around my sister, I hugged her close and palmed the back of her blond head.

  “You really didn’t have to do that, sis,” I whispered.

  “I already did while you were in the coma. This just proved to them I was serious.”

  “I’m sorry,” was all I could say. “Sorry that they let you down.”

  I couldn’t be sorry that she made this choice, though. As hard as it was, it was better this way. Ivy didn’t need this kind of toxic presence in her life. She deserved better. What if she someday made a choice those people didn’t like? Sometimes you had to let people go, even people you were taught from day one were always supposed to be there.

  “I’m so sorry I couldn’t stop them.” She wailed against me. I felt her tears saturate my thin gown. “I tried. I really did.”

  “I know. None of this is your fault. Don’t cry. I don’t like it when you cry.”

  She started to cry harder.

  “Dude. You have no skills with women,” Braeden said, totally offended.

  I grimaced.

  “Blondie, come here,” Braeden said, nearly picking her up out of the bed. “Come on. I got what you need.” He sat down with her in his lap and stroked her hair. Within moments, she quieted. He glanced at me and smirked. “Amateur.”

  I rolled my eyes and looked at Anthony. “Do you need me to sign anything else?”

  “No, that’s everything.”

  “Thank you for drawing up all those papers. I really appreciate it.”

  Tony smiled. “I’ve had them ready for several days. I knew what you wanted as soon as Romeo said you asked to see me.”

  “You’re a good father,” I told him. “Romeo is lucky.”

  “Me too!” Braeden added, as if he were insulted I hadn’t said his name too.

  Anthony laughed. “I consider all of you my kids.”

  “Especially me, though,” B quipped.

  The door pushed open, and I stiffened, half expecting to see my angry father scowling, but it wasn’t him.

  It was Patrick, and he wasn’t alone. He’d brought a very loud guest.

  The baby’s cries filled the room as he wheeled the bassinet inside, glancing around. “Wow, full house,” he said, his eyes finally finding Trent.

  “A baby!” Rimmel gasped, stepping forward.

  In Braeden’s lap, Ivy perked right up.

  “She’s still crying,” Trent stated, clearly unhappy.

  “I checked on her as requested. She’s due to eat but
isn’t taking the bottle. According to the nurses, she’s had a rough day.”

  Without hesitation, Trent reached into the bassinet and pulled the baby into his chest. It still shocked me how small she looked in his arms and how I instantly worried he might break her.

  “Be careful.” I cautioned him as he wrapped his arms around her.

  He caught my eye and smiled. “Are you worried?”

  “Maybe,” I echoed.

  Patrick reached into the bassinet and pulled out a bottle, offering it to Trent. He took it but didn’t offer it to her right away, despite her cries.

  “It’s okay now, peanut.” He began, swaying back and forth. “I got you.”

  Everyone in the room was stunned silent. The last thing anyone expected was for a baby to be wheeled in and for Trent to clearly be wrapped around her finger.

  “Calm down now,” he told her, and remarkably, she listened. Her cries dropped a few notches, turning into fusses. Pulling her in a little closer, Trent smiled. “You’re hungry again, right? Didn’t want to eat for those nurses? Probably still mad they put you in the corner.”

  My heart swelled as I lay back against the pillow, watching him with her. The same feeling I felt seeing him with her before flooded me. The same rightness. The same possessiveness.

  After a few tries, the baby latched onto the bottle and started to eat.

  Patrick made a sound. “She’s good with you for a while?”

  Trent didn’t even look up from the baby. I don’t think he even heard Patrick speak.

  “Just go,” I told him.

  “Wait,” Trent called, his voice soft. “Rim.”

  Rimmel rushed over, peeking at the baby. “Oh, she’s gorgeous.”

  “Yeah.” Trent readily agreed.

  Butterflies fluttered beneath my ribcage at the sound of his voice.

  “Can you fill out that paper for me?” he asked Rimmel, motioning toward a sheet I hadn’t even noticed. “Patrick needs it.”

  “I’ll do it,” I offered, snatching it off the bedside table while Rimmel handed over the pen.

  “Hospital volunteer?” Rimmel read from beside me.

  “I’ll bring it out to you when he’s done,” Trent told Patrick, keeping his voice quiet. The baby fussed, and he soothed her.

  The second Patrick left, Braeden spoke. “Pretty sure you can’t just be holding other people’s kids and wheeling them into your room.”

  “She’s not other people’s kids,” I practically growled.

  Everyone in the room exchanged a look.

  “Whose baby is that?” Ivy blurted out.

  I felt the eyes of everyone in the room. Everyone but Trent. He was staring at the baby girl in his arms.

  “Drew!” Ivy was impatient.

  Without withdrawing my eyes from Trent, I answered, the words tumbling out without me even thinking.

  “She’s ours.”

  36

  Trent

  * * *

  She’s ours.

  I felt it in my bones. I felt it with every fiber of my being.

  When I heard her cry, I experienced a physical reaction. The only other person who ever made me physically react to overwhelming emotion was Drew.

  He wants her too.

  Could he really? He hadn’t even held her. He didn’t know where she came from.

  I didn’t care either.

  I hadn’t cared from the moment I heard her crying. From the moment I picked her up without asking a soul.

  Was this how parents felt when their baby was placed in their arms after birth? Instant, overwhelming love? Instant devotion?

  It was new. So new to me. Yes, I loved Drew. More than anything.

  But this was different.

  This was somehow more.

  Drew and I had been cautious at first. We danced around our feelings. Our love. We debated, and we were afraid.

  It wasn’t like that now, with her or with her big brother, who bravely stayed at her side despite his young age.

  There was no war inside me. No debate. No worry.

  Just love.

  I loved her. I wanted her. I wanted her brother.

  I glanced at Drew. His eyes were soft, the blue like a bright summer sky on a cloudless day. I wanted him.

  Our family.

  His and mine.

  “Really?” I whispered, speaking to him and only him.

  “Let me see her.” He beckoned.

  She was still fussing and trembling and needed to finish her bottle. But Drew was like a siren, calling me to him, promising something infinitely beautiful.

  “You have to hold her tight,” I cautioned.

  “I know.”

  I put her in his arms. She squirmed and kicked, which made me fear for his ribs. He acted like he didn’t notice, chuckling instead.

  “You’re the smallest baby I’ve ever seen,” he told her, his voice tender and low.

  My heart did a cartwheel. My stomach dropped to my feet.

  She fussed again, and he pulled her closer, making a soothing sound. The baby quieted and looked up. Her very dark eyes focused on his face.

  “Hi,” he whispered.

  I pressed my lips together and stumbled back a bit. My vision was blurry. My lungs didn’t work right.

  I wasn’t a man who ever cried. Until Drew almost died. Until I was shoved out of his life.

  Until I put his daughter in his arms.

  Ripping his gaze from the baby, Drew’s found mine. “You still need to ask me if I’m sure?” he whispered.

  A choked sound caught in my throat, and I rubbed at the tender spot in the center of my chest.

  I shook my head. I didn’t have to ask. The sight they made together was everything.

  Absolutely everything.

  “Is that how…?” My voice faded away. I couldn’t even finish the sentence.

  “Yes,” he answered, returning his attention to the baby. “That’s exactly how it was when I saw her with you.”

  “I’m sorry.” Braeden interrupted the life-altering moment. “This is beautiful and all, but what the fuck is happening?”

  “Think our family just got bigger,” Romeo answered quietly.

  “Again, I ask. What. The. Fuck?” I glanced over at B, who was glancing around the room at everyone as if silently enquiring if he was the only one with questions. He saw me looking and levelled his stare on mine. “Drew’s been in a coma. You’ve been falling apart. How the hell did you have time to make a family of two into a family of three?”

  “Four.” I corrected.

  His eyes widened. “There’s another kid?”

  Gamble stepped forward. “He does raise some interesting questions,” he said. “I’m assuming this baby is suffering from NAS?”

  I glanced at him, surprised. “How did you know?”

  “I own part of this hospital. One of our programs is for babies born to opioid-addicted mothers. Considering her small size and the fact that there is no one to object to her being wheeled right in here…” He opened his hands as if to say, I rest my case.

  “T.” Drew beckoned. His eyes were filled with questions. And worry.

  Leaning over them both, I guided the bottle back into her mouth, waiting for her to latch on. When she finally did, I motioned for Drew to hold it, then lowered on the mattress beside him.

  “She’s still shaking.” He worried.

  Nodding, I tugged the fry blanket up and tucked it around them both.

  “Neonatal abstinence syndrome,” I told him but was loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. “Gamble’s right. She was born to a woman who was a drug addict. She’s basically going through withdrawal.”

  Ivy made a sound and came over to the bed, leaning over Drew to look at the baby. “Poor little thing.”

  “I don’t understand how anyone could do that to an innocent baby,” Rimmel said, coming to stand beside Ivy.

  “That’s why she cries so much. That’s why she shakes. That’s why she’s smal
l. I’m, ah…” I continued. “Not really sure what other medical issues she has yet. I haven’t gotten that far.”

  “You got far enough to fall in love,” Rimmel said, catching my eye to smile.

  I returned the smile. “Yeah. Well.”

  “It doesn’t matter,” Romeo declared. “A father loves his kids no matter what’s wrong with them. This is no different.”

  My stomach vaulted, and my heartbeat doubled. Father.

  Was that what I was?

  The baby gave a yell, and Drew made a sound, trying to quiet her.

  Oh God. I want to be her father.

  Fear slammed into me fast and hard. Was I even capable of being a father? What did I know about raising kids? About raising kids with a traumatic background?

  “Frat boy,” Drew whispered. I lifted my eyes to see him gazing at me. “Don’t do that.”

  How could I not? Braeden already pointed out that our lives were kinda in the shithole right now… How could we bring two kids into it?

  What’s more… Would we even be allowed to adopt them?

  Holy shit. What if I was getting attached to two tiny people only to be told I was too gay to raise them?

  If people could stop me from seeing the man I loved while he was in critical condition, they could definitely block me from trying to make a good life for two kids who needed it.

  Standing from the bed, I paced away.

  “Trent.” Drew called me back.

  Seeing the volunteer form Drew filled out for me, I snatched it, saying, “I’ll go give this to Patrick. Be right back.”

  Drew called my name again, but I left anyway.

  Outside in the hallway, I leaned against the wall and let out a shuddering breath. Everything beneath my skin was trembling. All my organs, nerves… my emotions.

  I thought about the baby in the room, held in Drew’s arms.

  I wanted her. I wanted her brother.

  But was I really good enough for them? I wasn’t so sure.

  37

  Drew

  * * *

  I looked down at the tiny bundle in my arms.

  Love swelled inside me like a tidal wave. It didn’t matter I’d just met her. It didn’t matter she would need extra care.